We are delighted to share the news that Live Music Now artist Mared Emyr (Pugh-Evans) has been announced as the new King’s Harpist.
Photographer credit: Cat Arwel Photography
Mared becomes the seventh official harpist to His Majesty the King following the position’s resinstatement in 2000 during his tenure as Prince of Wales. The position was revived to encourage young musical talent in the nation and raise the profile of Wales’ national instrument. Mared succeeds fellow Live Music Now musician Alis Huws, who has held the position since 2019, as well as many of the previous royal harpists that joined Live Music Now since 2000.
‘It is an honour to be appointed as Harpist to His Majesty The King, it’s a responsibility I have not taken lightly, but one I’m committed to fulfilling wholeheartedly and I’m hoping to put my own personal stamp on the role.
Community and Participation work is at the forefront of my career – it’s my ‘why.’ I’m very lucky to work with incredible organisations, such as Live Music Now and Wigmore Hall’s Music for Life, and I’m hoping to raise awareness of the essential work these organisations facilitate all over the UK.
Working in this field has been one of the most influential experiences of my musical careers to date and I’m so excited to see what the coming year holds.’
– Mared Pugh-Evans
Mared joined Live Music Now in Autumn 2023 following our recruitment workshops in London, and has since visited special schools and care homes in London performing participatory concert programmes. She is an alumna of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where in 2020 she won the prestigious Sir Ian Stoutzker Prize for most outstanding instrumentalist, named after the late Ian Stoutzker who co-founded Live Music Now alongside Yehudi Menuhin.
Mared continued her studies in postgraduate performance at the Royal Academy of Music and currently performs as a freelance artist for Live Music Now as well as Wigmore Hall’s Music for Life programme, City of London Sinfonia and as co-founder of Music in Hospices.
Congratulations to Mared for receiving such an honoured appointment.
